Author: Dale

Record-cold weather followed the latest snowstorm into the Sierra, where the overnight low dropped to minus 13 degrees at South Lake Tahoe.

The National Weather Service says the new record low set early Tuesday along the Nevada-California line smashed the previous record of minus 8 degrees for the date set in 1990.

The service forecast highs in the mid- to upper-20s at Tahoe on Wednesday before lows drop to single digits Wednesday night, then back below zero Thursday night as another winter storm system makes its way through the region.

In eastern Nevada, the service expects lows of minus 4 to minus 6 in White Pine County along the Utah line late Tuesday or early Wednesday.

Recent measles outbreaks in states such as Washington, New York and New Jersey have cast a spotlight on a group of Americans who receive exemptions from immunizing their children on the grounds that the vaccines violate their religious freedoms.

Now the states that suffered outbreaks are taking aim at those exemptions. In recent weeks, lawmakers in the New Jersey, New York, Iowa, Maine and Vermont state legislatures have proposed eliminating religious exemptions for vaccines. A Washington state representative has proposed tightening the state’s religious exemption while eliminating a separate law that allows for a personal or philosophical exemption from immunization.

Vaccination proponents and anti-vaccination activists are watching to see whether some states will follow California, which got rid of religious and personal exemptions for vaccines after a Disneyland-linked outbreak of measles that began in 2014. The only students there who can go without a vaccination without a doctor’s signature are those who are home-schooled.

CHICAGO – Actor Jussie Smollett faked a threatening letter and then, a week later, staged a racist, anti-gay attack in downtown Chicago because he was “dissatisfied with his salary” on the “Empire” television show, Chicago police superintendent Eddie Johnson said Thursday morning.

Smollett paid two brothers he knew $3,500 to fake the attack in the 300 block of East North Water Street around 2 a.m. Jan. 29, Johnson said. The superintendent called the scheme “shameful” and wondered how an African-American could set up a racist attack for a “publicity stunt.”

When investigators figured out the real motive behind the attack, “quite frankly, it pissed everybody off,” Johnson said. “Empire actor Jussie Smollett took advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career.”

Looking out at a crowded room of reporters at police headquarters, Johnson said: “I just wish that the families of gun violence in this city got this much attention.”

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee was 17 when he joined the Kappa Alpha fraternity at Auburn University, which every spring held an “Old South” party where he and other members dressed in Confederate uniforms.

The fraternity has since ended the tradition, and Lee, four decades removed from his undergraduate days at the Alabama university, says he regrets attending and wearing the uniform, and has come to see his participation in the event differently.

A spokeswoman for Lee confirmed on Thursday that Auburn’s 1980 yearbook includes a photo of the governor and another man in Confederate uniforms.

“While I never intentionally acted in an insensitive way, with 40 years of hindsight, I have come to realize that was insensitive and have come to regret that,” the Republican governor said.

Here we go again: vote to raise property taxes on other people’s land.

Moscow residents will vote May 21 on a 10-year, $9.64 million general obligation bond to fund the construction of a police station and remodeling of city buildings.

The Moscow City Council approved the bond ordinance Tuesday night.

Approximately $7.89 million of the nearly $10 million bond would fund the construction of a new police station proposed on the corner of Southview Avenue and South Main Street/U.S. Highway 95.

The remainder of the proposed bond, which requires a two-thirds supermajority to pass, would fund the remodeling of the existing police station to accommodate other city office needs ($1.5 million) and the remodeling of the city’s Paul Mann Building, located next to city hall ($132,043).

The Anthropogenic Global Warming scientists are now saying that global warming does produce more snow…

Record snowfall in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley led to a rare day off for area students Wednesday, as at least 6.6 inches of snow accumulated throughout the day.

The National Weather Service in Spokane reported just after 5 p.m. Wednesday that the valley had received 4.2 inches of snow since midnight — a record for Feb. 20 — and 6.6 inches since the storm’s beginning.

The proposal to build a mixed-used development called the Moscow Flatiron has been selected for the empty lot at 6th and Jackson Streets. The Moscow Urban Renewal Agency Board selected the project Thursday morning from 3 proposals.

Plans call for the development of a five-story building. The Moscow Flatiron would be the new home for The Storm Cellar consignment shop. The upper floors would feature luxury apartments and high-end offices on the top story.

The agency will now work with the developers to negotiate agreements to proceed with the proposed project for its property just South of downtown.

Starbucks is sure not going to want wealthy whites “woke” to this fact.

SEATTLE, WA—The coffee monolith Starbucks is introducing a brand new drink that promises to begin the hard work of ending racism in America. The new “White Privilege Latte” will cost $50 a cup and taste like pure hatred, bigotry, and regret. “This will be the most progressive drink on the market today,” said marketing director at Starbucks, Madeline Kohn.

RICHMOND, VA—Virginia Democrats are breathing a sigh of relief, as the Jussie Smollett hoax has taken the media’s eye off of their political trainwreck, sources confirmed today.

Both Governor Ralph Northam and the state’s attorney general had drawn ire for racist photographs and blackface, while Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax has been facing a number of sexual assault scandals. The governor had also caused controversy with statements that appeared to support infanticide.

BURLINGTON, VT—On Wednesday the Bernie Sanders campaign was disappointed to learn that the nearly $6 million in campaign contributions was donated in Bolivars—Venezuelan currency. When converted to US dollars, the Sanders campaign actually only raised $22 US dollars.

CHICAGO, IL—In his first public statement since being arrested for filing a false police report, Empire actor Jussie Smollett claimed he was persuaded to make up the attack on himself by a small blue creature from outer space.

Rumors are swirling regarding the drama series “Empire” as actor Jussie Smollett is suspended after being charged with filing a false police report. This comes after Smollett turned himself in to Chicago Police to face felony charges in connection with an alleged hate crime attack he appears to have staged.

According to Variety Magazine, Smollett’s status on “Empire” is under consideration as legal proceedings get underway. 20th Century Fox television declined to comment on these specific reports, but did issue a statement saying Smollett would not be written out of the show.

Equality in America is a huge problem. I’m not talking about equality of opportunity: I’m talking about the kind of equality that comes when everyone who makes more money than I do pays their fair share, being brought down to my level by the blind justice of the government.

A viral encounter between Covington Catholic High School student Nicholas Sandmann and a Native American protester has prompted the student to sue the Washington Post.

Lawyers for the teen filed a defamation lawsuit against the newspaper in Kentucky, and are seeking $250 million in damages. They are claiming the Washington Post falsely accused him and other students of racist acts as well as instigating a confrontation with Native American protester Nathan Phillips at a Washington, D.C. pro-life rally in January.

Sandmann said he did nothing wrong.

“As for as standing there, I had every right to do so,” he stated. “My position is that I was not disrespectful to Mr. Phillips — I respect him, I’d like to talk to him.”

WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says an Alabama woman who left home to join the Islamic State group in Syria is not a U.S. citizen and will not be allowed to return to the United States.

Pompeo says Hoda Muthana does not have a U.S. passport or any legal basis to enter the country.

He said on Wednesday in a statement that she “will not be admitted to the United States.”

The 24-year old who joined the Islamic State after becoming radicalized says she regrets aligning herself with the terrorist organization and wants to return to the United States with her 18-month-old son.

The Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre and the Nuart Theatre in downtown Moscow would be allowed to sell beer and wine during movies if a bill, sponsored by House Minority Leader Mat Erpelding, D-Boise, and Rep. Caroline Nilsson Troy, R-Genesee, passes the state Legislature.

Erpelding said the legislation would allow Idaho theaters listed on the National Register of Historic Places and built before 1950 to obtain a license to sell beer and wine during motion pictures.

About 13 historic theaters could benefit from the legislation.

The Kenworthy opened as a public theater in 1926, but some of the building was in use as the Crystal Theater as early as 1908, according to the Kenworthy website. The theater was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.

The Nuart Theater was built in 1935 and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001, according to Cinema Treasures’ website.